Crash-induced injury forces ex-F1 racer to miss Formula E season finale

Antonio Giovinazzi picked up the injury in a race the previous day.

Antonio Giovinazzi was forced to miss the final race of the Formula E season after injuring his thumb in a crash the previous day.

It has been a difficult first season in Formula E for the Italian, who signed for Dragon after losing his Formula 1 seat at Alfa Romeo to Guanyu Zhou.

Heading into the final round in South Korea, he had made it to the finish line in just three races and had failed to score a single point.

He wasn’t able to change that in the first race in Seoul, retiring six laps before the end, and t make matters worse, a crash ruled him out of the action taking place the next day.

Antonio Giovinazzi in Qatar, 2021 after being fired.v1

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Giovinazzi first came together with Antonio Felix da Costa at Turn 11, and injured his thumb in the process.

Soon afterwards, he was hit from behind by Alexander Sims, which caused him to spin and made his injury worse.

After the race, he was first treated at the on-site medical centre before, with his hand strapped up, heading to the hospital.

There, it was revealed that the damage was too serious for him to be able to compete in the final race of the season.

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“Due to the hit by Da Costa yesterday, I have taken a hard hit on my right thumb causing swelling and pain,” he tweeted.

“For safety reasons we have not to race today and take useless risks.”

He was replaced by Sacha Feneztraz, Jaguar’s reserve driver, who finished in P16, last of those to make it to the end.

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It seems unlikely that Giovinazzi will ever race in Formula E again now with him not renewing his contract with Dragon. 

It’s believed that he could instead drive for Ferrari in the World Endurance Championship Hypercar programme in 2023.

Regardless of what he does, he will most likely remain the Italian team’s test and reserve driver in Formula 1.

It’s unlikely that he’ll get himself a full-time spot on the F1 grid next season though as he has previously said he’d like to do, with both of the current Alfa Romeo drivers both performing well and likely to be retained.

However, a space could open up at Haas with talk of Mick Schumacher leaving the team, and with the American team working closely with Ferrari, a move there could be possible.